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It was at this time that the women's' rights movement began to organize at the national level.
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Reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Over 300 people attended the convention.
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Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton formed this association (also called NWSA). They wanted an amendment that would give women the right to vote. They were objected to the proposed 15th amendment, which stated the right to all men to vote, regardless of race. It did not extend the same privilege to women of any color.
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Abolitionists Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell founded this association (AWSA). They supported the 15th amendment because they were fearful it would not pass if it included the voting rights for women. They believed women's rights could be gained thorugh amendments to individual state constitutions.
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The Wyoming Territory granted all female residents above the age of 21 the right to vote.
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Susan B. Anthony and a dozen other women are arrested in Rochester, New York. They were voting illegally in the presidential election. Anthony fought charges unsuccessfully and was fined $100, which she never paid.
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The Senator of California a women's suffrage amendment to the U.S. Senate for the very first time. This was drafted by Stanton and Anthony. It states, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
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The two sides of the movement unite, creating the National American Women's Suffrage Association. Stanton becomes the president, and they fight for state-by-state voting rights.
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After a debate on a Constitutional amendment guaranteeing women's suffrage, the House votes in favor, but the amendment does not win a 2/3 majority in the Senate. The president, though, begins to support the women's suffrage amendment.
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The House and the Senate pass the 19th amendment, so it then goes to the states for ratification. 36 states were required for ratification.
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After 35 states approve the amendment, Tennessee becomes the final one. The 19th amendment can finally be ratified.
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The U.S. certifies the ratification of the 19th amendment, which gives all women the right to vote for the first time in history.
